On 15th of March The Film Awards honored the superlative creativity and talent demonstrated by filmmakers and designers in the SXSW Film Festival program.  During this ceremony the Narrative Feature Competition Jury honored Elizaveta Yankosvkaya work in Vasilisa Kuzmina's debut "Nika".

“In her first lead role in a feature, Elizaveta Yankovskaya delivers a knockout portrait brimming with rage, joy, despair, uncertainty and 20-something yearning. She plays Nika Turbina, a real-life figure who, after fame was thrust upon her as a child poet, finds herself past her prime before she’s 30. Whatever narrative conjectures the intimate drama might make, there isn’t a moment in Yankovskaya’s breathtaking performance that doesn’t ring true with messy emotional complexity, or that doesn’t feel like unpredictable life itself unfolding before our eyes.”

The movie is based on the real story of Nika Turbina, once world-famous Soviet child poetess, who got completely forgotten in the 1990s. That's when we meet her: at the age of 27 Nika is full of hopes and doubts regarding her gift. Due to the age restriction, she's got just one shot to enter the Drama School, and that's her only chance to separate from her cherishing and oppressive mother. Acquaintance with a new friend Ivan gives Nika hope for a happy future, but there is still something in her memory that triggers her. Tragically cheerful, painfully confused and desperately believing in love and life after childhood, Nika puts everything on the line to overcome ghosts of the past.

The SXSW Film Festival Narrative Feature Competition, Documentary Feature Competition, Design Awards, and Special Awards are announced each season during the Film Awards ceremony along with all the Short Film Program winners, which are eligible for Jury Awards within their respective screening categories. All film categories, except Special Events, will be eligible for category-specific Audience Awards, which will be certified by the accounting firm of Maxwell Locke & Ritter.